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Book n^iu^ 

Copyright^" 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




The Altar of the Heart* 



ERRATA. 

Page 49. — Third line from top 
in sub-head, where ''Always" 
should be ''Alway; and in sev- 
enth line from bottom of same 
page, last word, in line where 
''whether-so-ever," should be 
''whither -so -ever." 

Page 73. — Eighth line from 
bottom, where "eternity," should 
read "emnity." 





CONTENTS. 




CHAPTER. PAGE. 


Introduction 


7 


I 


Foreword 


11 


II 


The Kingdom Within .. 


16 


III 


The Altar Aglow 


32 


IV 


Friendship and Fellow- 
ship 


46 


V 


His Preciousness to Be- 
lievers 


60 


VI 


Gone to Prepare, "Will 
Return to Beeeive . . 


82 



\ 



THE 



ALTAR^ 

OF THE ^ 

HEARTil 



? A Series of Practical Talks on 
( the Inner Life* 



By the 
REV. JOHN D. TUSSEY 



MOBERLY, MISSOURL 



S PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR 1907. > 



tlTsRARY of CONGRESS j 
\ Two CoDles Received 
I MAY 6 \^07 
. Copyrtght Efltry 

CUSS A ,XXcm No. 

COPY B. ' J 



Copyright, i9C7 

BY 

REV. J. D. TUSSEY 



The Moherly Monitor Print. 



9CO«««*» «'»««<»t>»« *> 



^ 



DEDICATORY. 



To ''the common people Who heard 
the Master gladly/' and Who are of 
the household of faith or "groaning 
so to bCs" this little Volume is loV' 
ingly and prayerfully inscribed by 
THE AUTHOR. 



INTRODUCTION 

—By the— 

REVEREiND WILLIS CARLISLE 

Scc^ty* of Central College. 



I have been charmed in read- 
ing the advance sheets of this lit- 
tle volume, unpretentious, but 
dealing with matters vital to the 
welfare of the soul. 

The author modestly makes his 
first bow to the public, and brings 
as his offering observations made 
from the various phases of a busy 
pastor's work, whose chief labors 
for the past few months have 
been, not in the pulpit only, but in 
the home, the workshop, the office, 
the bank, and the factory where 



he has come in touch with men 
and women, young and old, not 
in all instances perfect but as he 
has found them, and as they are; 
and he writes out of the fulness 
of his heart. 

The chapters indicate well, the 
proper divisions of the book ; not 
cumbrous but inclusive, no lab- 
ored effort to ward pedantry, but a 
slow rhythmic movement carry- 
ing the reader forward gradually, 
peacefully, as flows the summer 
brook, hastening on, never in a 
hurry, perhaps lingering here 
and there where the landscape is 
more beautiful or where brighter 
flowers grow. Now flowing more 
rapidly, then lingering again in 



grassy meadows, playing here 
and there, halting, pausing, but 
ever flowing toward the great sea 
of God's love and finally resting 
therein carrying with it the soul 
of the reader who while being 
pleasantly beguiled has uncon- 
sciously been brought to look 
upon Him Who is the Savior of 
the world and the Great Burden - 
Bearer of each of us. The vision 
is helpful. 

Willis Carlisle. 
Central College, 

Fayette, Mo. 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 11 

CHAPTER I. 
FOREWORD. 

In taking up a new book on an 
old subject, the readers natural 
inquiry is why another book on 
this subject. To which inquiry 
our only reply is because, not- 
withstanding the many good 
books that have gone forth, the 
field is ^dll white unto the har- 
vest, and there are thousands 
who are yet uninstructed in the 
things of God, and each humble 
effort may be used by the Lord 
of the harvest in garnering a 
new sheaf for the harvest home. 

I do not claim any novelty, 
either in style or matter, nor do I 



12 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

write as one competent to handle 
the deep things of the Great God ; 
but rather as one called of Him, 
and whose duty it is to tell of 
Him, both by tongue and pen 
that His word may run and be 
glorified. As one sermon or one 
rendering oi' a song does not al- 
ways reach all the people who 
hear, but must be repeated over 
many times ; so one pen message 
becomes more powerful by its 
being often retold. 

I desire throughout, dear read- 
er, who&e kindly indulgence I 
may have, that we have in these 
pages a plain and confidential 
Iieart talk with each other. Let 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 13 

US have an old fashioned class 
meeting in which we may each 
recall and review our own per- 
sonal experience touching the 
things of grace ; for the same Lord 
who unstopped the deaf ear will 
also unloose the dumb tongue 
and will give us burning words 
to utter for Him. 

Let us therefore, in the begin- 
ning of our task, ask the Dear 
Lord to grant unto us as writer 
and reader, the spirit of discern- 
ment and testimony and the de- 
sire for a deeper and higher ex- 
periences of grace; and the re- 
kindling of the heart's altar with 
the Holy fire of love. And 



14 THE ALTAK OF THE HEART. 

though we may not utter the 
words ; let our prayer be in some 
expressive language of the heart. 
For you know the heart speaks a 
language in which the tongue is 
uninstructed and to which the 
only response of the human or- 
g-ans of speech is ^'groanings 
that cannot be uttered." 

In the effort to express the 
heart language, the pen also is 
palsied; but to the ear of the 
Infinite One, which is ever in- 
clined to US-ward, the heart, in 
this unutterable language brings 
a most acceptable petition, and 
by this Ear it is always under- 
stood. 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 15 

Would to God that we prayed 
more in this silent, unspeakable, 
but none-the-less potent lan- 
guage of the heart. 



^ 



16 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

CHAPTER II. 
THE KINGDOM WITHIN. 

God has chosen but one place 
in all the world to put His name 
for each individual, and that oae 
place is not in yonder mountain 
or in some distant shrine or even 
in our much prized churches and 
temples reared with hand but in 
the human heart ''The Most 
High dwelleth not in Temples 
made with hands" — Acts 7-48., 
read also 1 Kings 8-27, II Chron- 
icle 2-6 and 6-18. ''Know ye 
not that ye are the temple of 
God, and that the Spirit of God 
dwelleth in z/oi^?" I Cor. 3-16. 
''What? know ye not that your 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 17 

body is the temple of the Holy 
Ghost, which is in z/oz^," I Cor. 
6-19. ^'What agreement hath the 
temple of God with idols? for ye 
are the temple of the living God ; 
as God hath said, 'I will dwell in 
tham and walk in them;' " II 
Cor. 6-16. Thus from these and 
numerous other passages of God's 
word, the dwelling place of the 
Most High becomes evident. Je- 
sus says, ''Behold the Kingdom 
of God is within yoW','^ Luke 
17-12. 

So the Spirit of God who 
was to come and is come into the 
world has no other abiding place 
than the heart. The kingdom is 



18 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

an inner kingdom of which the 
Holy Spirit is king, and the heart 
of men is His throne. But when- 
ever the Holy Spirit is enshrined 
in our hearts His reign will effect 
the whole body, whose actions 
become subject to the King, who 
rules within. Humanity as sentient 
creatures, are constituted subject- 
ive and responsible. That the peo- 
ple desire a king is a natural law of 
the human constitution, and in no 
sense is this so true as in this inner 
Kingdom. For the heart is yield- 
ing obeisance and offering de- 
votion to some object as its king, 
''Ye cannot serve two masters," 
said Jesus, yet you must serve 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 19 

one of two. Our free moral 
agency leaves us free to choose 
the one of the two who is to be 
our king. These two aspirants 
to the throne of our hearts, as 
you know, are the Holy Spirit 
and Satan the prince of dark- 
ness. You say the very name 
of Satan's kingdom — darkness — 
is quite enough to dissuade you 
from becoming his subject, and 
indeed it should be, but one 
thing is sure, from the altars of 
every heart, there is g jing up an 
offering to the Prince of Light 
and the Holy Spirit is our King, 
or we are offering to this prince 
of darkness, whose devotees we 



20 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

are. As has been many times 
said there can be no neutraHty, 
neither can there be any divided 
service. The Holy Spirit and 
Satan do not hold any territory 
conjointly. A house divided 
against itself must fall, and the 
question, 

WHO IS OUR KING? 

is deserving of our most earnest 
consideration, and one thing we 
may know, that ''to whom we 
yield ourselves servants to obey, 
his servants we are, whether of 
sin unto death, or of obedience 
unto righteousness;" Rom. 6-16. 
Now the devil always tries the 
most beguiling and unexpected 



I 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 21 

way to come into the kingdom of 
our heart, and it may always be 
expected that he will use all 
kinds of deceit to reach thi^ end, 
andone of his greatest, if not most 
disastrous deceptions, is to come 
in the gui;^e of an angel of light, 
as we are told in the Word of 
God, and persuade, men that he is 
really the Holy Spirit. He tells 
them that church membership is 
a good thing, an i that they ought 
to join the ohucrh, that it is all 
right to support the church; and 
in this way no doubt he has suc- 
ceeded in persuading many peo- 
to be content with their church 
membership alone. 



22 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

You know that it has been a 
custom among heathens to at- 
tempt to appease the wrath of 
their gods by so me stringent pen- 
ance or self-inflicted bodily dis- 
figurement, and in many other 
similar ways to seek peace for a 
troubled conscience. And then 
in the early centuries there crept 
into the Christian church many 
of these old pagan supersitions 
and many christians believed that 
by climbing the sacred stair or by 
penance or some work of the hand 
they could satisfy the demands 
of the God of Israel. The mis- 
take of the Christians was that 
they misconceived the words of 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 23 

Christ when He said '^My King- 
dom is not of this world, "and also 
^'The Kingdom of God is within 
z/oz^," for in contradistinction to 
all other gods, the God of the 
Christian has always required the 
devotion and praise of the inner 
life, and all encomiums of the 
lips and services of the outer life 
come to naught before Him ex- 
cept as they measure and mani- 
fest the inner life. 

And in these days we are not 
free from the spirit of supersti- 
tion of former ages, and are often 
prone to put outer deeds and pro- 
fessions for our justification dis- 
regarding often almost totally 



24 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

the inner life, and because of 
these outer accessions we are 
trying to have ''a conscience 
void of offense," but do not have 
within us a burning evidence of 
our sonship in the King's family. 
And especially is this true 
among the membership of the 
churches. I would speak here 
lovingly for I do not wish to cri- 
ticise unduly the church mem- 
bership, and I would also dis- 
criminate between the weak but 
ever persevering church-mem- 
bers who have in their souls the 
witness of the Spirit, and the 
nominal professor who, as has 
been anticipated a few pa.Q:es 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 25 

back, have been beguiled into 
church -membership by the devil 
as an angel of light, who having 
once made this accession of join- 
ing the church, are deceived into 
the belief that in the day of final 
awards they are sure of a crown 
of life. 

It is possible that there is a 
shallowness in much of the mod- 
ern revivals, and that too little 
stress is being placed on funda- 
mental doctrines of repentance 
and saving faith in Jesus. There 
is, no doubt, to a large extent, 
that human desire to count num- 
bers in many of our revival ef- 
forts that causes us often to com- 



26 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART 

promise the doctrines of the gorj- 
pel and lower its standards, and 
though this is a human desire of 
conquest it is never -the -less ini- 
mical to the true evangelization 
of the world causing in many in- 
stances a superficiality in our 
work and populating our churches 
with many unconverted people. 
Therefore we ought to put more 
emphasis on these fundamental 
doctrines of the gospel. 

Not that it is so terribly wrong 
for an unconverted person to be- 
long to the church; the harm 
done is not nearly so great to the 
church as to the individual. 

I do not mean that it does not 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 27 

hurt the church at all, for we 
have all realized, I am sure, how 
some unconverted person has 
been a hindrance and a stumbling 
block to the real progress of the 
church among the unsaved in the 
world, but, as has been truly said, 
the most difficult problem in all 
the world is to reach, with the 
gospel of repentance and confes- 
sion, the unconverted church 
member, for they are made to be- 
lieve by the devil that because 
they are church members they 
are all right. But notwithstand- 
ing the difficulty, this problem is 
most worthy the consideration of 
the church as a soul winner. 



28 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

These persons who have help- 
ed to carry the material burdens 
of the church and have wrought 
with us in its temporal establish- 
ment, who manifestly from their 
zeal oftentimes for the church, 
earnestly desire to flee from the 
wrath to come. Shall we not 
feel ourselves doubly under obli- 
gations to them and as we 
have seen the light, use every 
means known to us to lead them 
also into the blessedness of the 
same fellowship? 

In the divine economy it is pos- 
sible for us to know to which class 
we belong, and who is in reality 
our king. We may, and indeed 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 29 

we must have an 

I KNOW RELIGION, 

and may say with Paul, '*I hnow 
whom I believe. 

Of course the devil tries very 
hard indeed to make us doubt our 
conversion, and we must be very 
careful here, for after we have 
been granted the testimony, then 
to doubt it is to doubt God, ''For 
the Spirit Himself beareth wit- 
ness with our spirit that we are 
the children of God." Rom. 8,16. 
and by this Spirit the altars of 
our hearts are lighted and we 
may have a continued assurance 
of our acceptance. 

I recently heard a great and 



30 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

good man in giving his exper- 
ience say, ^'Since I turned God- 
ward and repented and left all 
on the altar and received the tes- 
timony of my acceptance and for- 
giveness, I have never doubted 
it, it has been as real to me as 
any fact could be, and by the 
same faith through which I came 
into this experience, I have kept 
it continually." 

A.nd I think his statements are 
orthodox and it was with him as 
it should be with all of us. 

If you are inquiring earnestly 
into this question, who is my king? 
and if you wish to read further 
from the word of God regarding 



THE ALTAR OP THE HEART. 31 

the assurance, read the following 
reference, Heb. 6, 16-20, Luke 
10,20, I John 3, 1 to 17, St. John 
15 chapter, fruit- bearing, known 
by fruit Matt. 12,33. 

So through the abiding pres- 
ence, and continual witness of the 
Holy Spirit within the heart, is 
the Kingdom of God within, and 
the true altar of worship is erected 
within the heart. 



^ 



32 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

CHAPTER III. 
THE ALTAR AGLOW. 

On that memorable and never- 
to-be-forgotten day — the resur- 
rection day — the day of greatest 
importance to the race when Je- 
sus, the Nazarite, came up from 
the grave, breaking asunder the 
bonds of death and conquering, 
once for all, what had always ap- 
peared to be the great and terri- 
ble enemy — death. As in Adam 
all had died, so now in Jesus 
comes forth a renewed hope of 
immortality and the world is re- 
minded that in Him all shall live. 

But on this brightest of days 
two men were journeying together 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 33 

on foot. Each has a sad and 
disappointed look on his face; 
they are engaged in earnest con- 
versation, and as their words fall 
on the ear, one may easily detect 
the same sadness and disappoint- 
ment in their voices. If you had 
met them you would have guessed 
that they were just returning from 
the burial of some loved one, for 
there are signs of undried tears on 
their lashes, and if this should be 
your guess you would not be far 
wrong, for they have indeed, only 
recently, within the last three 
days, witnessed the humiliating 
death by public execution, of a 
very dear friend in whom they 



34 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

had the greatest hope, and not 
only is their friend dead, but their 
fondest dreams of a king and a 
deliverer from Roman bondage 
is crushed within them. 

But as they journey, presently 
another man overtakes them and 
joins them in their journey, and 
seeing the sadness, he expresses 
surprise, as he asks them what 
they are talking about that makes 
them so sad, and they also seem- 
ed very much surprised, and 
asked, ''Are you a stranger in this 
community, for surely no one 
living in this community has not 
heard what has taken place with- 
in the last three days in Jerusa- 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 35 

lem," and in this they express the 
idea that is common with most of 
us when in trouble, that every- 
one knows about the cause of our 
troubles. 

But when they had put this 
question to the stranger he asked 
them ''What things?" Evidently 
he was a stranger and they began 
at once to tell him, 

''Why, sir," they say, "con- 
cerning Jesus of Nazareth who 
was a prophet mighty in deed 
and word before God, and how 
the chief priests and our rulers 
have delivered Him to be con- 
demned to death and have cruci- 
fied Him. But we trusted that it 



36 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

had been he which should have 
redeemed Israel, and beside this 
is the third day since these things 
were done." The last, with evi- 
dent surprise thac he had not 
heard it in three days. They 
also tell him that certain vision- 
ary women had greatly astonished 
them by circulating a report that 
He had arisen from the dead. 

The btranger, a person of quiet, 
yet unassuming dignity, was 
rather talkative, and appeared 
v/ell acquainted with the Jewish 
scriptures for he began to talk to 
them at once about their pro- 
phecy concerning this Nazarite 
about whom they had told him. 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 37 

By his commanding dignity and 
marvelous eloquence and wisdom 
concerning this thing, they were 
drawn to him ; they listened with 
delight as he told them that ac- 
cording to their own prophecy, 
this same Jesus must die as He 
had done before He could be the 
deliverer of Israel. There began 
to rise within them again, that 
hope which had been crushed. 
Possibly, after all. He was the 
Christ who had died three days 
ago. But still they listen. What a 
charming and marvelous teacher 
is their new companion as he be- 
gins at Moses and tells them all 
that the prophets have said con- 



38 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

cerning this Jesus. 

How short has seemed the 
journey for they now have reach- 
ed the little town of Emmaus, 
which was about seven and a 
half miles from Jerusalem, and 
which was the destination of the 
two, and as they reached the 
house where they were going to 
stop, the stranger was apparently 
going to pass on, but so sweet 
had been the short fellowship 
that they did not want it to cease 
here, and they at once began to 
implore him to stop with them. 
Not that cold, formal invitation of 
'* Will you not stop?" that we so 
often give to our friend, but an 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 39 

urgent pressing invitation, ^'They 
constrained him, telling him that 
it was late and the day would 
soon be over. So upon this invi- 
tation the stranger tarried with 
them. 

After the meal had been pre- 
pared and they had gathered 
about the table, the stranger, 
though not the host, took up the 
bread and broke it and gave 
thanks and served it to the other 
two, and as he did this the two, 
who on many another occassion, 
had seen him in this old familiar 
act, at once recognized in him 
their Lord and Master, and it 
must have been 



40 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 
A GLORIOUS RECOGNITION 

as there flashed into their hearts 
suddenly, the marvelous words 
which He had spoken to them 
about the prophecy, and now the 
dead hope of a deliverer for Is- 
rael also arises from the dead, 
and in their supreme joy they 
would have embraced Him and 
held Him had He not mysteriously 
disappeared from them. And 
after He was gone they began to 
recall the walk with Him and the 
delightful conversation which 
they had had with Him, and ihey 
said one to another, '^did not our 

HEARTS BURN WITHIN US WHILE HE 
TALKED WITH US BY THE WAY AND 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 41 

WHILE HE OPENED UNTO US THE 
SCRIPTURE." 

They hastened at once to re- 
turn to Jerusalem to bear the 
glad news of the ressurrection to 
the other disciples. That walk 
to Emmaus had been a wonder- 
ful one, and that conversation 
had re -built the fires on the cold 
altars of their hearts, and they 
were ready again to become His 
disciples. 

And so is it always with all of 
us. There are no doubt many 
hearts out of which hope has 
gone, or in which there never has 
been any hope. The altar has 
become cold and the service 



42 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

cheerless, or the altar has never 
been kindled at all. To any such 
a one as this we would recom- 
mend a quiet stroll in the bright 
sunlight along the highway with 
Jesus, and a secret talk with Him. 
Hear His voice in nature, read 
His words in the Book, or hear 
the still small voice within you as 
He gently speaks to you, ''Son, 
or daughter, be of good cheer." 
There is nothing that will set 
tlie heart aglow like 

. A LITTLE TALK WITH JESUS, 

and nothing to drive away the 
'* blues" like a quiet walk with 
Him, and He would have us al- 
ways walk with Him, and bids us 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 43 

come to Him boldly and tell Him 
all about ourselves. 

Have you not seen a little child, 
when every thing has gone wrong 
with it, go to its mother and lay 
its little head in her lap and with 
burning tears tell her all about it, 
and have you not also seen that 
mother comfort her child and 
dry its tears? In the same way 
Jesus invites us to come to Him, 
when every thing has gone wrong 
with us ; and we may lay our heads, 
weary, sad and heartbroken on 
His great sympathetic heart, and 
there sob out our sorrows and our 
sins to Him, and He will comfort 
us and dry our tears. And as 



44 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

we go on our way there will be in 
our hearts an altar aglow with a 
new love and devotion which will 
burn sweetest incense to Him, 
our great comforter. 

If you, dear reader, as a mem- 
ber of the church have never felt 
your ** heart burn within you, I 
beg of you, go talk with Jesus this 
very hour, lay down your book, 
mark your place here, and have 
the next hour for communion with 
Him, and if you are not a church 
member and have never made 
any profession, you cannot afford 
to do without Him in this world of 
heavy burdens. Let Him share 
your burdens with you ; for He is 



THE ALTAR OP THE HEART. 45 
THE BURDEN BEARER, 

and will gladly help you to bear 
your burdens, and He will share 
your sorrows. Seek a quiet talk 
with Him about yourself, what- 
ever your trouble may be. If 
you cannot tell your closest friend 
about it, you can safely tellJesus, 
and He will invite you to walk 
with Him out into new sunlight 
and joy, and will set your heart 
aglow, so that you will have an 
offering of love always on the al- 
tar of the heart. 



46 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

CHAPTER IV. 

FKIEXDSHIP AXD FELLOW- 
SHIP. 

After that Emmaus journey, 
Jesus appeared to all the disci- 
ples and they had a great many 
quiet talks together with Him. 

He was shaping up the work 
and planning for the extension of 
the gospel. They were to be His 
witnesses, and He was giving tp 
them instructions in all the de- 
tails of the great work to be com- 
mitted unto them. And after all 
had been arranged He appointed 
a day and a place where they 
should meet Him. Matthew says 
it was a certain mountain, Mark 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 47 

and John do not specify any 
place, but Luke tells us it was at 
t he little town of Bethany. 

Here the diciples are to meet 
Him and have their last talk with 
Him. There is no doubt a sad- 
ness in their hearts not unlike 
the sadness of Elisha when he 
went with his Master, Elijah, on 
that last circuitous trip, knowing 
in his heart that his master was 
soon to depart. For I dare-say 
the disciples knew the days of the 
Son of man were fulfilled upon 
the earth, and they realized that 
the time of His departure was at 
hand. When then have reached 
the chosen place Jesus appears 



48 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

and begins to talk with them. 
They bend their heads, eager to 
catch every syllable, for this is 
the good-bye message. 

He tells them that they are to 
go forth and instruct the nations 
in the way of life eternal. Hovv^ 
the hearts of the disciples must 
have been dismayed at this 
charge. How can they accom- 
plish this great task alone, be- 
side, the very thought of His go- 
ing away is heart-breaking to 
them. But how quickly He ban- 
ished the cause for this sadness, 
and brought light to their gloom 
when, as He lifts His hands 
above them to give them His 



THE ALTAR OP THE HEART. 49 

parting blessing, He says as His 
parting utterance, 

LO, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS. 

Tho' your fellowship has been 
Bweet, it is to be sweeter now. It 
will be a constant fellowship. 
Naturally earth ties and limita- 
tions have hindered your fellow- 
ship here-to-fore. Jesus has 
journeyed in one part and you in 
another. But now He will ac- 
company you whether -so -ever 
you go, always to be present in 
every place. 

The Great Author of our sal- 
vation, therefore, would have us 
always near Him and would al- 
ways be near us, but our trouble 



50 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

is that like the heathens, who 
had gods many, but seemed to 
take no knowledge of them only 
when some fierce calamity befell 
them, we also are often unmind- 
ful of our God and are some- 
times almost forgetful of His 
existance, until in our extre- 
mity, we feel the special need 
of divine interposition. 

While we may not walk with 
Jesus as the diciples did before 
His ascension, yet in a far more 
glorious sense may we have con- 
tinual fellowship with Him. Those 
words, ''Lo I am with you al- 
ways, "were not idle words, spok- 
en without meaning, but they 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 51 

are one of the gilt-edge promises 
of God, They open to us at once 
vast possibilities in our ministra- 
tions and labors. How weak our 
worthiest efforts, and how fruit- 
less our mo t valiant struggles, 
when we have wrought in our 
own strength. 

With those disciples who tried 
to cure the demoniac at the base 
of the mount of transfiguration, 
but who lacked the fundamental 
requisite — faith, we too can tes- 
tify to the humiliations of our 
failures when our strength has 
been unaided by divine strength. 

How little we may undertake in 
our own fctrength, yet how much 



52 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

we may undertake with the know- 
ledge that He is with us always ! 
His very first plan for us is the 
evangelization of a world. He 
who knew our strength would not 
lay out for us such vast and ap- 
parently impossible tasks — tasks 
beyond human comprehension, 
much more, human strength, un- 
less He should add, with truest 
meaning, the promise to be with 
us. 

You recall how, before the 
great tragedy of Calvary while 
the cross was yet throwing its 
dark shadow athwart His path at 
every turn, and He was telling 
His disciples how He was soon to 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 63 

depart He added, ''I will not 
leave you comfortless ; I will send 
the Comforter, who is the Holy 
Spirit, and He shall abide with 
you forever," or in other words, 
I will return again, not as God- 
in-the-flesh,but as God -in -Spirit, 
in which state I will abide with 
you forever. And this spirit is 
to take of the things of Jesus, the 
God-man, and reveal them to us. 
Jesus is to be His only text, 
about whom He is continually to 
tell us. 

Ever since man's fall in tne 
garden of Eden, God has sought 
for him a closer fellowship with 
Himself. That fall left man so 



54 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART, 

crushed and scarred and black- 
ened, and so sinful and unholy 
that, though he had the friend- 
ship and love of God, yet until 
man had by gradual discipline, 
developed through the long years 
of God's personal training, that 
friendship could not become the 
truest fellowship. 

God could approach no nearer 
to man than to watch over him 
as director and ruler, and we 
speak of that dispensation as the 
** dispensation of the Father,*' or 
''God over ^^,9," but on through 
the ages God brought the race 
until in His divine judgment it 
was ready for a still nearer rela- 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 55 

tion to Him and so he sent His 
Son into the world and we call 
that *'the dispensation of the 
Son," or "God ivith us'' for 
His name was Emmanuel, which 
means God with us. Matt. 2, 3. 
It was simply God coming near- 
er to the race. During the short 
years of the dispensation of the 
Son, the foundation for our faith 
was more securely laid, the one 
and sufficient oblation for the 
sins of the people had been of- 
fered, Eden's tragedy had cul- 
minated in Calvary's tragedy and 
man was ready for this last and 
closest relation and fellowship 
with God, so when the Son de- 



56 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART, 

parted He sent the Holy Spirit 
into the world and we call this 
the * ^dispensation of the Spirit," 
or ^'God in uSj^ in which dis- 
pensation we still abide, and 
which, so tar as biblical revela- 
tion goes, is the last and closest 
dispensation of God in the world 
until we **8ee Him as He is." 

Abraham was called •'the friend 
of God," and God was also the 
friend of Abraham, and that 
friendship has ripened unto the 
glorious fellowship we enjoy with 
Him today. 

It is this Spirit, who is to dwell 
within us and to witness with our 
spirits, whom Jesus sent upon 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 57 

His departure. And the testi- 
mony of this Spirit is not an ob- 
scure testimony, but a very real 
and vivid one. We often speak 
lightly of the old time preachers 
and of their shouts and halle- 
lujahs as an old time fogy, but if 
you recall some of the old time 
sermons brimful of the gospel of 
repentance; and again recall how 
the sinner trembled under his 
conviction and sought for the 
evidence of his par den, then it is 
only a reasoning from cause to 
effect, the gospel of repentance 
the cause, and conviction, con- 
version and the witness of the 
Spirit the result. A good, healthy 



58 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

way to get into the kingdom. 
The writer was privileged to 
to sit under the ministry of one 
of these old heaven -honored and 
sun -crowned veterans of the 
cross sometime since, across 
whose lingering pathway there 
fell the radiant glory of the sun- 
set of his noble life, and as he 
expounded the sweet, old story 
as he used to tell it to those who 
have preceeded him to glory, we 
had a real Wesleyan experience, 
for we 'felt our heart strangely 
warmed within us,' the fire on the 
altar had been fanned into a 
blaze and we could have joyfully 
joined in an old time shout. 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 59 

God bless these old brethren 
whose sunset view reflects so 
much courage and inspiration 
on the younger ones of us. 

Let the fire of the heart's altar 
be rebuilt by the Spirit who will 
take up His dwelling place with- 
in you. 



^& 



60 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

CHAPTER V. 

HIS PRECIOUSXESS TO 
BELIEVERS. 

In I Peter 2-7, there are re- 
corded these words, "Unto you 
therefore which believe He, 
(Christ) is precious; but unto 
them which be disobedient^ 
the stone which the builders dis- 
allowed, the same is made the 
head of the corner." 

Peter, the one time denier of 
his Lord, speaks these words to 
us through the tears of a bitter 
remorse. More than a quarter 
of a century has gone by, if com- 
mon chronology is to be accept- 
ed, since that memorable day. 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 61 

when Jesus was on trial, and 
when Peter has so vehemently 
denied Him, but he still remem- 
bers it. 

He had witnessed the triumph- 
ant ride into Jerusalem, when 
the people had waved palms be- 
fore his Master, and when glad 
Hosannas to Him abounded. 
The Master had said "Whither I 
go ye cannot come," and Peter 
had said, "Lord, why cannot I 
follow Thee, I will lay down my 
life for Thee." But the laurel- 
crowned one of yesterday will be 
the thorn-crowned one of tomor- 
row. Faithfess Peter cannot see 
yet, beyond earthly glory and 



62 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

dominion. To him then, this 
man on trail, whom everyone 
seem to suspect, is not precious. 
How easy it is to fall in with 
the current evils if they be popu- 
lar. Even this life -long disciple 
now denys his Lord because the 
consensus of opinion is running 
that way. 

HAVE WE DENIED HIM. 

I dare -say we can all recall some 
instance when we have thought 
that circumstance made it more 
convenient for us, if not to deny 
Him, to keep quiet, and say noth- 
ing in His defence. 

But since that time Peter has 
learned a new lesson. He no 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 63 

longer walks by sight. He has 
learned the lesson of walking by- 
faith, and this faith has broad- 
ened his perspective. He can 
now see beyond earthly kingdoms 
and dominions. This vision of 
faith is the spirit's vision without 
earthly limitation and unobstruct- 
ed by the things which are seen 
with these orbits of earthly vision. 

When Peter got a glimpse of 
Jesus by this eye of faith he **re- 
joiced that he was counted worthy 
to suffer shame for His name.'' 
By faith he has found Jesus pre- 
cious, and that is what he is tell- 
ing us in these words. 

Faith is the condition of our 



64 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

acceptance by Him and it is also 
the condition of our abiding fel- 
lowship with him, and it is in this 
constant fellowship that we find 
Him precious. 

To the great majority of people 
living in Jerusalem and Bethany 
at the time of our Lord's sojourn 
upon the earth He was a passing 
stranger. He was not precious 
to them for they did not know 
Him. But in one humble home 
down there in Bethany they 
knew Him and to them He was 
so precious that they were alwaj s 
inviting Him to their home. 
Faithful Mary found Him so pre- 
cious that when He came she 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 65 

would drop her work and sit down 
at His feet and listen to His mar- 
velous words. Mary's love was 
that devotional love that brings 
its offering in such an acceptable 
way. Martha, to whom He was 
no less precious sought to bring 
her offering in hand -service. She 
was busy about the meal. You 
have seen women who, when 
company came, lost all the pleas- 
ure of their communion in their 
anxiety about the meal. 

No doubt this form of service 
was, and is acceptable to Jesus 
but it is the love and devotion of 
the heart that He so much de- 
sires; for you know He told 



66 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

Martha that ''Mary had chosen 
that good part." 

But one time a very deep sor- 
row had fallen upon this little 
home; their dear brother, Laz- 
arus, had died, and they sent for 
Jesus. 

When He came and met them 
they told Him through their tears 
about the death of their brother, 
and then concluded by saying, 
^'If thou hadst been here our 
brother would not have died," 

Jesus gently comforts them 
and tells them that He even has 
power over death as well as over 
disease. And you will notice 
that He again questions them 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 67 

about their faith and said, **If ye 
will believe ye shall see the 
Glory of God," And they said 
**Yea Lord we believe that Thou 
art the Christ." 

And as they stood by the tomb 
of that brother with this, their 
friend, who wept with them, and 
heard His voice utter that strange 
call into the tomb* 'Lazarus, come 
forth," and immediately up from 
the darkness there came, restored 
to life, the brother for whom they 
had mourned. Then Jesus be- 
came doubly precious to them. 

One time with His disciples 
He was going into the town 
of Nain in Gallilee. As they were 



68 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 



Rearing the gates of the little 
village they met a funeral pro- 
cession. On the bier is the cold 
form of a young man, closely be- 
hind which, a poor heart-broken 
mother follows. She is a widow, 
and how lonely she wil! be now. 
A mother's heart is on that bier 
with her dead son. Behold, how 
she weeps ! But the great sym- 
pathetic heart of Jesus goes out 
to her. He had compassion on 
her, and forthwith He stopped 
the procession. ^'What right 
has he" they say, ''a stranger 
thus to command as one having 
authority?" but they set the bier 
down and Jesus goes up to it and 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 69 

taking the cold hand in His, calls 
that lifeless form back into life. 
How precious then, He must have 
become to that mother. 

How many times this same Jes- 
us has had compassion and has 
spared our loved one ; how many 
time the unseen Hand has stead- 
ied us when we were falling, and 
made our darkness light. 

He has placed in the bank of 
the universe, subject to our order, 
the wealth of the golden sunshine, 
righteousness and peace and 
joy — even salvation itself — the 
check for which must be signed 
in the blood cf the Son. If ye 
helieve* Like the little Bethany 



70 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

family, we may turn to Him in 
every trouble, always to find 
Him precious. 

Or like that funeral procession 
out of Nain, we may meet Him 
on our ways of sorrow, and if we 
know Him He will be precious to 
us. Are we 

ACQUAINTED WITH JESUS, 

and do we know the bleesedness 
of fellowship with Him. 

To a great many He is still a 
parsing stranger, as He was to 
the many in Bethany and in Jer- 
usalem. They have never be- 
held the vision of His loveliness 
and do not know what a prize 
His companionship is. 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 71 

You have off en heard the ex- 
pression about some one *Ho 
know him is to love him." This 
expression U always true about 
Jesus. One cannot know Him 
and not love Him. And we are 
to get acquainted with Him by 
believing in Him. Our belief is 
the ground of His preciousness to 
us. *'Unto you which believe 
He is precious." 

Faith is the moral loadstone, 
which, having touched our lives, 
draws us to Christ as truly as the 
needle of the compass is drawn 
to the poles. Our business cares 
may turn us for a time away just 
a3 one may cause the needle of 



72 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

the compass to be deflected with 
the finger, but remove the ob- 
struction and naturally the life, 
and thought returns to the 
Christ, for faith creates an af- 
finity. By faith in His name we 
are drawn to Him and He is also 
drawn to us and the ''action is 
mutual" as an electrical scientist 
would say. That is what the 
bible means when it says, ''Draw 
nigh to God and He will draw 
nigh to you." James 4-8. 

Sin is ever antagonistic to 

righteousness and may be called 

the opposite pole. There can be 

absolutely no fellowship between 

sin and righteousness. Doctor 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 73 

Watkinson says of sin: "It is a 
contradiction, not a contrast." 
"Contrasts," (quoting from Mar- 
tensen) "are necessary differ- 
ences, which emerge from the es- 
sence of the thing, and which 
mutually demand one another; 
but contradiction is that which 
U repugnant to the essence of the 
thing.' " 

" 'The carnal mind is eternity 
against God." Sin is rebellion 
against God's Majesty. It is 
full of terrible independence 
and ambition. The foolishness 
of God is wiser than men," but 
the sinner does not think so : He 
thinks the foolishness of man is 



74 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

wiser than God. It is, therefore 
an impeachment of divine wis- 
dom. Whenever we sin our out- 
ward thought is that our program 
is more rational than His . . . 
It is itnhelief in the divine 
truth and justice, the transgressor 
secretly believes that He shall 
eat and not die. Sin is the real 
irreconcilable antithesis." 

So we may readily see how 
that, as unbelievers we could not 
find Jesus precious unto us, who 
are in open rebellion against 
Him. It is only in weakness that 
we may know and have, the very 
keenest appreciation of His great 
strength — only in surrender — Dot 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 75 

revolt — that we find Him prec- 
ious. *'P'or when I am weak, 
then am I btrong," says Paul; 
II Cor. 12-10, and he realized 
fully, that the end of his strength 
was the beginning of divine 
strength. Again Paul said : ''I 
am crucified with Christ, never - 
the* less I live; yet not I, but 
Christ liveth in me." Gal. 2-20. 
Here He shows us that giving up 
our lives is receiving the life of 
Christ. 

So there are many thousands 
who, having believed have found 
Him precious — **The chiefest 
among ten thousand." 

I used to call in a home where 



76 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

an old lady, who had been un- 
able to get out of the bed for 
years, was living with her 
daughter, who was her only 
earthly support; the little cabin 
was down at the foot of one of 
the Ozark mountains and shut 
out from any open country by 
great gloomy mountains, and 
almost shut out from the sun- 
light. This poor old lady had 
been paralyzed for years, and 
piece by piece her furniture had 
been disposed of until there was 
barely enough left of the rudest 
sort to make out on. When I 
would call on this old saint thus 
shut out from her friends, and 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 77 

often in the middle of the after- 
noon to find the sun already gone 
down behind the hill, and gloomy- 
shadows casting their darkness 
over the little cabin — but I al- 
ways found grandma sunshiny 
and happy. One time when I 
went I asked her, ''Grandma I 
have often wondered why I find 
you so happy amid this poverty 
and these gloomy surroundings, 
when there seems to be so much 
discontent in other homes more 
pleasantly situated." 

The dear old soul reached for 
her Bible which she kept lying 
on the bed with her — a well-worn 
volume it was, — and turning its 



78 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

pages leaf by leaf with her one 
good hand she finally directed me 
to the pa^^sage which we have 
quoted in the opening of this 
chapter and I read '*Unto you 
therefore, which believe. He is 
precious." 

*'I have taken Jesus at His 
Word" she said, '*I believe and 
thank God I find Him precious. 
He is all I have, but blessed be 
His name, I am rich with Him. 

**But don't you get lonesome 
sometimes," grandma, *'I ven- 
tured to ask, and she replied : 

''Why, God bless you, I hold 
sweet communion with Him, and 
every hour I feel His presence 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 79 

near, and though I may not get 
out in the sunlight, thank God I 
can have the glorious light of the 
VSua of Righteousness' constantly 
around me." 

And with tears of joy in my 
eyes I went away from there feel- 
ing that the Lord had been very 
near while I talked with this saint, 
upon the altar of whose heart 
there burned incessantly such an 
ardent devotion to her Master. 

Thank God, He is precious to 
believers. 

But, though He is precious all 
the way, yet, when at last we 
come to the * ^valley of the 
shadow" then how doubly prec- 



80 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

ious He will be as He comes to 
make its darkness light. We 
have often stood by the bedside 
of departing saints, and have 
seen and heard their testimonies 
to His preciousness in this dark 
hour. 

Precious in life, in death more sweet 

Is Jesus' blessed name. 
What joy to fall down at His feet, 

The promised crown to claim. 

Will you, my brother, if you 
have not found Him precious to 
you, believe in Him just now. 
What peace you miss by not get- 
ting acquainted with Jesus and 
having Him for your companion 
all the way to the '*city which 
hath foundation." Let the fires 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 



81 



of faith and devotion be kindled 
on the altar of your heart. 



'^ 



82 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

CHAPTER VI. 

GONE TO PREPARE, WILL. 
RETURN TO RECEIVE. 

We have already alluded to the 
ascension at Bethany, according 
to Luke; and especially to His 
promise to continually abide with 
us. But let us return again to 
that ascension while we consider 

THE PROMISE OF THE ANGELS 

as recorded in the 1st chapter of 
the Acts, who said '*This same 
Jesus, which is taken up from 
you into heaven, shall so come in 
like manner as ye have seen him 
go up into heaven." 11th verse. 
Also let us recall the words of 
Jesus where he said, **I go to 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 83 

prepare a place for you, and if I 
go and prepare a place for you I 
will come again, and receive you 
unto myself; that where I am 
there ye may be also. St. John, 
14-2, 3. 

I know of no other promise in 
God's v/ord, that should strike 
such responsive chords, or awaken 
such rapturous melodies within 
the true Christian heart as these 
two — to prepare a place, and to 
return and receive us to that 
place. 

What marvelous provision and 
preparation the divine Goodness 
is making for us in our eternal 
home, is beyone our comprehen- 



84 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

sion, for ''Eye hath not seen, nor 
ear heard, neither hath it entered 
into the heart of man, the things 
which God hath prepared (or is 
preparing) for them that love 
Him. I Cor. 2-9. 

How amazingly wonderful it 
all is, yet how truly like Him it 
is, to make such abundant pro- 
vision for such as we. And how 
fathomless, and past understand- 
ing is this condescending love ! 

In the contemplation of these 
marvelous things, and of our 
own unworthiness we are made to 
exclaim with the prophet of old. 
''Oh! that mine eyes were a 
fountain of tears," that we might 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 85 

pour them out over our own " 
faithlessness and short-comings. 

Through Jesus we have be- 
come children of God and joint 
heirs with Jesus. What a roy- 
alty is ours! Princes and prin- 
cesses of the Great God, the King 
of the universe, before whom all 
earthly kings shall bow their 
knee. Royal blood flows through 
our spiritual veins. In the Royal 
Palace of the King we are to have 
an eternal home. Was ever any- 
thing half so amazingly sublime ? 

It seems almost too good to be 
true — like some of our wild 
dreams — yet, the sure promise 
which cannot fail is behind it. 



86 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

It is true. 

What does it matter then if we 
do not possess earthly riches, if 
poverty and penury is our por- 
tion during these few fleeting 
years of probation? 

What if suffering shall be our 
lot? We belong to the Royal 
family; our livery is righteous- 
ness. ^*We are strangers and 
sojourners in a strange land." 
Our home is not here. We are 
looking for a ''City which hath 
foundation, whose builder and 
maker is God." 

Jesus himself has gone and is 
personally conducting that pre- 
paration. The splendid mansion 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 87 

is being reared; the rich furnish- 
ing is being elegantly arranged. 
Nothing will be left out of that 
home that divine Love can con- 
ceive to make it all our hearts 
will desire. 

Little wonder, that the old 
ear ih -weary and care-worn pil- 
grim should 80 often desire to 
depart, and be with God. How, 
sometime in the contemplation of 
that beautiful home our souls get 
real home-sick! We hunger for 
the time, and our fond hearts 
sing: 

"Oh, what must it be to be there." 

I have recently read a little 
story of a Scotch Christian, who, 



88 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

in tattered garments, was work- 
ing away on the hill -side con- 
structing a cabin of poles and 
singing happily : 

"I'm the child of a king 

The child of a king 
With Jesus my Savior, 

I'm the child of a king." 

While he was thus engaged, a 
noted infidel of the nobility rode 
along; and hearing him sing 
about being the child of a king, 
and seeing his shabby vesture, 
thought to deride him and said : 
**My friend, if you are, as you 
say, the child of a king, why do 
you wear such ragged clothing, 
and why are you in such poverty 
guise?'' The Scotchman kept on 



THE ALTAR OP THE HEART. 89 

working, while he sang : 

"My father's own son, 

Tne Savior of men, 
Once wondered on earth, 

As the poorest of them, 
But now He is reigning 

Forever on high 
And will give me a home 

In the heavens bye and bye. 

^^Butwhy," continued the in- 
fidel, '*do you erect and live in 
such a cabin if you are the child 
of a king. Why not have a bet- 
ter house." 

And again the Scotchman sang, 

"A tent or a cottage. 

Why should I care? 
They're building a palace 

For me over there 
Though exiled from home 

Yet still I may sing 
All glory to God ! 

I'm the child of a king." 

The nobleman went on his way 



90 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

SO impressed with the song and 
the singer, that he became con- 
victed and later yielded himself 
to Christ and became also ''the 
child of a king." 

I was much impressed with the 
little incident above related. I 
thought, by this sturdy and hap- 
py Christian's song some other 
soul was won, and how much 
better it would be for us to sing 
about our Christian experiences 
and be sunshine Christians, for 
perhaps by this means we may 
win some. God help us not only 
to ''think of the home over there," 
but also to sing of the home 
over there. 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 91 

frances Ridley Havergal says 
of songs, **A great many so-call- 
ed 'sacred songs' are so plaintive 
and pathetic that they help to 
give a gloomy idea of religion. 
Now don't sing these; come out 
boldly, and sing definitely and 
unmistakably for your king, and 
of your king, and to your king. 
You will soon find, and even out- 
eiders will have to own, that it is 
a good thing thus to show forth 
His loving- kindness and His 
faithfulness." 

And now since we are sure that 
**if our earthly house of this tab- 
ernacle were dissolved, we have 
a building of God, a house not 



92 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens," II Cor. 5,1, let us dili- 
gently seek to take some one else 
with us to share in its glories. 

And not only are these glories 
being prepared, bui, according 
to His promise in the same verse 
in which He promises to prepare 
a place for us, He will also return 
again and receive us. And this 
return according to the angels in 
the passage quoted in the open- 
ing of this chapter, as also in 
other passages, is to be as real 
and personal as was His ascen- 
sion. For ''in like manner" they 
say, ''as ye have seen Him go up 
into heaven," so shall His re- 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 93 

turn be. How the heart of every 
true child of His may rejoice in 
this promise ! 

As the httle child watches 
through the window pane for its 
father's return at eventide, so 
would the Master have us watch 
for His coming, for He says 
'^ watch therefore, for you know 
not what hour your Lord doth 
come." Matt. 24-42. 

That coming is to change 
everything. It is to introduce 
the true Light and the source of 
light. We are told that the sun 
will cease to be; the moon and 
the stars are to be extinguished 
and the Lamb of God will be the 



94 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

light, as He comes in the cloud of 
His glory. How that glory will 
break in upon our dazed and un- 
accustomed vision! But even 
the capacity of that vision is to 
be changed. It is to be a time of 
transformation when we are to be 
changed into His likeness, for 
"We know that when He shall 
appear we shall be like Him." 
I John 3-2. 

We are to expect Him at any 
time, and therefore we "wait as 
those who wait for the morning." 
Out of our darkness we are soon 
to emerge, and be ushered into 
God's Eternal Day. The passing 
away of every night, and the 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 95 

dawning of every day i8 analog- 
ous to the passing of our little 
probationary night, and the glor- 
ious dawning of the Eternal 
Golden Day. 

It is to be a time of reward of 
service. '^Behold, I come quick- 
ly," and my reward is with 
me, to give every man according 
as his worlc shall be. Rev. 
22-12. Every one, both saint 
and sinner, will receive in infinite 
justice a reward according as he 
has wrought. It will be, to the 
Christian, a time of exchanging 
the cross for the Crown. *^Be 
thou faithful unto death and I 
will give thee a crown of life." 



96 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

Rev. 2-10. I seem to see the 
stooped form of a patient toiler 
who has borne the heavy cross 
through three score years, as he 
comes up to this Eternal Morn- 
ing, to receive qis reward. It is 
a crown of life — it is placed on 
his brow and there at once re- 
turns, the fresh bloom of youth. 
It is eternal youth; the crooked 
form becomes immediately 
straight; the voice that has so 
long been broken and husky is 
now attuned to the harmony of 
the angel's choir, and he is tak- 
ing up the songs of praise. 
*' Glory in the highest!" What 
a grand strain ! We have heard 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 97 

some of the finest music the earth 
can produce, but how wondrous 
it will be when we hear the songs 
of the angels! How the glad 
voices will ring through ail the 
vaulted skies,^when all the host 
of the redeemed shall join in the 
angelic anthem ! 

How strange it all seems to our 
feeble imagination, in our effort 
of contemplation. 

It will be a time of reunion. 
There are but few homes that 
have not been saddened by the 
departure of some dear one, and 
few hearts that have not been 
almost broken by the severing of 
these earth-ties. Most of us 



98 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

have stcod by the open grave as 
we have seen all that was mortal 
of our loved ones gently lowered 
and committed to its gloom. But 
how instinctively we have turned 
to the memory of that Empty 
Grave in the garden and have 
felt our tears stayed and dried 
by the assurance that ''the grave 
shall give up the dead" in that 
Hay! If our earthly fellowship 
with our dear friends has been 
sweet, with all its limitations, 
what must the heavenly fellow- 
ship be, with all these limitations 
removed, and infinite resources 
of pleasure added? Father, 
mother, brothers, sisters and 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 99 

many dear ones are to be there, 
whom we have known and loved 
on earth. Surely we cannot af- 
ford to miss heaven. 

I have recently read a little in- 
cident related by a minister, who 
had visited an alms-house where 
there was an aged man, too para- 
lyzed to move at his entrance, 
and with his hat on his head to 
keep off the gust of wind that 
swept through the chinky dwell- 
ing. His wooden shoe pattered 
on the floor unceasingly, keeping 
time to the tremor of his shaking 
frame, and as he was very deaf, 
the minister shouted in his ear: 

''What are you doing, my good 

LOFG. 



100 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 



man?" 

''Waiting, sir," was the reply. 

•'Waiting for what?" 

"For the appearing of my 
Lord." 

*'And what makes you wish for 
His appearing?" 

"Because I expect great things 
then. He has promised a crown 
of life to all who love His appear- 
ing. All my dear friends and 
loved ones have gone over, and I 
still linger in the sunset gloom- 
ing. But how blessed it is to 
know that when it pleases Him to 
return for me, I shall be reunited 
with them ! Yes sir, I am only 
waiting." 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 101 

How rich was this poor old 
saint. Though lacking in all of 
earthly possessions, yet possess- 
ing a hope, which was an ''an- 
chor sure and steadfast and 
which entered within the veil." 

And there are many care-worn 
pilgrims who are 

"Only waiting till the shadows 

Are a little longer grown, 
Only waiting till the glimmer 

Of the day's last beam has flown." 

As we accept the record of the 
ascension of Jesus, so must we 
accept the promise of His return 
to earth again personally and 
visibly, whose mission then in 
His second advent will be not to 
die for the race but to Judge it. 



102 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

Much has been written on the 
^'second coming" and many fine 
spun theories have been advanc- 
ed regarding it and the miUen- 
ium, much of which has been 
mere speculation, no doubt, but 
notwithstanding all, we are to ex- 
pect, according to Christ'a own 
words, a second return to the 
earth. And we are not to fold 
our hands and say, '*My Lord, 
delayeth His coming." And 
now, since we are to expect Him 
at any time, the matter which 
immediately concerns us is, 

ARE WE READY. 

For the day of the Lord so 
cometh as a thief in the night. 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 103 



1 Thes. 5-2. And not only were 
the disciples commanded to 
watch, but we also, of the present 
day, for when He had commanded 
them to be ready He said ''What 
I say unto you, I say unto All 
Watch. 

There can be nothing that 
should so engage us as to be 
ready for His glorious appearing; 
for to be unclothed in the wed- 
ding garment, is to be forever 
excluded from the feast, or to be 
unprovided with oil is to be for- 
ever barred from the marriage. 
How swiftly the mighty dial rolls 
on, counting and lessening our 
hours. 



104 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 



*'Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day." 

By the sacrifice of Himself Je- 
sus has made eternal life a possi- 
bility for all of us and has follow- 
ed us constantly, knocking at 
our door, asking admittance; for 
He says : Behold, I stand at the 
door and knock." 

Christmas Evans relates a very 
impressive parable, regarding the 
knock of the Savior. It is in 
part as follows : 

"I will tell you what happened 
in a Welsh village. I was pass- 
ing through that village in the 
early spring-time, and I saw be- 
fore me a beautiful house. The 
farmer had just brought his load 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 105 

of lime into the yard; his horses 
were fat, and all were well-to-do 
about him. He went in and sat 
down to his dinner, and as I 
came up a man stood knocking 
at the door. There was a friendly 
look on his face that made me 
say as I passed, 'The master's 
at home; they won't keep you 
waiting long.' 

**Not long after I was again on 
that road, and as soon as I came 
in sight of that house I saw the 
same man knocking. At this I 
wondered, and as 1 came near I 
saw that he stood as one who had 
knocked long. As he knocked, 
he listened. 



106 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

''Said I, 'The farmer is busy 
making up his books, or counting 
his money, or eating and drink- 
ing. Knock louder, sir, and he 
will hear you. But,' I added, 
'you have great patience, sir, for 
you have been knocking a long 
time. If I were you, I'd leave 
him to-night, and come back to- 
morrow.' 

" 'He is in great danger, and 
I must warn him,' replied he; 
and he knocked louder than 
ever. 

"Sometime afterward, I went 
that way again; there the man 
still stood knocking, knocking, 
knocking. 'Well, sir,' said I, 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 107 

'your perseverance is the most 
remarkable I ever saw. How 
long do you mean to stop?' 

'' 'Till I can make him hear,' 
was the answer; and he knocked 
again. 

''Said I, 'he has plenty, and 
wants for nothing.' 

" 'Yes, he replied, 'for the 
Lord is kind to the unthankful.' 

"He knocked again, and I 
journeyed on wondering at his 
goodness and patience. 

"Again I visited that district. 
It was cold weather and stormy 
without doors ; the only pleasant 
place was beside the fire. As I 
passed the farm-house I saw 



108 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

the candle-light shining through 
the window, and the smoke of a 
good fire coming out of the 
chimney. 

''But there was the man still 
knocking, knocking! I beheld 
that his hands and feet were 
bare and bleeding", and that his 
^^sage was as that of one marred 
with sorrow. My heart was sad 
for him and I said, 'Sir, I would 
stay here no longer, go to that 
poor widows. She will let you 
in.' 

" 'I am not come to call the 
righteous, but sinners to repen- 
tance, he replied. 

''At that moment the door 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 109 

opened and the farmer came out 
with a cudgel in his hand, with 
which he smote him and shut the 
door. This excited fierce anger 
in me, and I was ready to burst 
into the house and mal -treat him, 
but the patient stranger laid his 
hand upon my arm and said, 
'Blessed are the meek for they 
shall inherit the earth.' 

* 'Again he knocked at the 
door. 

''From the blacksmith I learned 
the character of the farmer, that 
he was a hard man, and I re- 
turned to the stranger and said, 
'Sir, come away, he is not worth 
all this trouble.' With that he 



110 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 



spread his bleeding palms before 
me, and showed me his bleeding 
feet; and I beheld it was the 
Lord Jesus. 

'' 'Smite him Lord,' I cried in 
my indignation, 'and then he will 

hear.' 

'' 'Of a truth he shall hear Me. 
In the day of judgment, he shall 
hear Me when I say "Depart 
from Me thou worker of ini- 
quity." After this He ceased 
knocking and I saw Him no 
more." 

He is knocking now, but some 
time he will cease to knock. How 
we should heed 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. Ill 
*'THE knock of THE NAIL PIERCED 

hand!" 
before It hag ceased to knock. 

So may we gladly open to Him, 
the door of our hearts, that He 
may come in and light the flame 
of love on the altars of our hearts. 

For to all who have known 
Him here, his appearing will be 
glorious, but to those who have 
rejected Him here it will be 
terrible when He comes to judge 
the world. He has said '^Whoso- 
ever shall confess me before 
men, him will I confess before my 
Father which is in heaven. But 
whosoever shall deny me before 
men, Him will I also deny before 



112 THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 

my Father which is in heaven.'^ 
Matt. 10-32, 33. So the manner 
in which He shall appear to us, 
is left entirely with us. Would 
we have that appearing to be a 
glorious one or a great and terrible 
one. 

And now dear reader our little 
talk is over. The writer dares 
to hope that these few pages may 
be in some measure helpful to 
you, as their preparation has been 
to him. 

Many of you readers He may 
never know in the flesh, but some 
day when the night is past and 
the Golden Day dawns we shall 
come up together before the 



THE ALTAR OF THE HEART. 113 

Throne of God, and we shall 
know each other in the Golden 
Day. Praying, therefore a bless- 
ing on all who may read we sub- 
mit this feeble attempt. Let us 
keep the fires of the heart's altar 
always burning, satisfied with 
present communion here with 
Him, but ever looking for His 
return. For He says ''Surely I 
come quickly." "Even so come 
Lord Jesus." 

THE END. 



^AY 6 1907 



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